


Entangled

by Peanutbutterer



Category: Forever (TV)
Genre: Gen, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 12:19:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3810145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peanutbutterer/pseuds/Peanutbutterer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little ficlet based on the 1x22 promo, so a little bit spoilery but mostly probably completely inaccurate :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Entangled

 

Jo pulls her sedan up to the curb and shifts into park, flicking off the headlights as the passenger door clicks open.

"Henry," she greets as he slips into the car beside her. He's wearing the same thing he'd been wearing when she left him earlier that evening, but his mouth is in a hard line and his eyes are dark and calculating. It's a side she's seen on occasion, and it never means anything good. "This is very dramatic, even for you."

He manages to muster a partial smile, but instead of comforting her, it makes the knot that has settled itself in her stomach tighten even more. Something is going on, something that brought on this clandestine meeting, but in typical Henry fashion, she's afraid when all was said and done she'll find herself with more questions than answers.

"Yes, well, I apologize for disturbing your evening in such a manner."

She waits for an explanation, but it doesn't come. Instead, he sits there, eyes forward, watching without really watching. He's psyching himself up for something, but she doesn't have the patience to wait it out.

"Henry, what's going on?"

"I'm about to do something," he answers, still not shifting his focus from the darkened city before them.

"And you're warning me first? You're typically an 'ask forgiveness, not permission' kind of guy." She tries to smile, but can't quite manage it. "Is this character growth?"

"I'm afraid I'm not here to ask permission."

The knot in her stomach threatens to burst, and she realizes her fingers are clutching the hem of her coat. She releases them, smoothing the fabric as she wills herself to settle against the gnawing sense of dread.

"I need you to leave for a few days."

His words hit her like a sharp slap, the surprise and sting both sending her reeling. "What? Why? No."

He looks at her, eyes pleading. "There's someone who wants to cause me harm and he intends to do that through you."

She shakes her head, appalled at the thought. "Henry, if someone is after you -"

"He can't hurt me," Henry insists, his conviction so strong she almost believes him. "He won't hurt me. But I'm concerned that he might hurt you."

"I'm an NYPD detective, Henry. I can take care of myself."

"Against anything else, I'm certain that's the case, but this - Jo, not this."

Her fingers itch to turn the keys, to start the engine and take him away, to lock him up until this danger passes. "Henry, let's take this, whatever this is to the lieutenant."

He shakes his head, definitive and sure. "This is something I need to solve myself. That I  _can_  solve by myself. But only if I am certain you are out of harm's way."

"I'm not going to hide while you put yourself in danger."

"I'm not in danger," he insists again. "You have to trust me."

"I trust you, Henry, but I don't trust that you can take care of yourself - that you  _will_  take care of yourself. Your self-preservation instinct is non-existent. You're safer with me than you are by yourself. Whatever this is, I can protect you."

"My safety is not in question, Jo. Yours is. And I will not stand for that."

The way he says it, the look in his eyes - it stirs the tension inside her, pressing the bubbles of fear and doubt to the surface. "What am I to you?"

"Someone I care very deeply about." His eyes lock with hers, speaking louder than the only words he'll allow himself to say.

"And that's why I'm a target," she concludes.

"Yes."

"And you'll feel better, safer, if I'm gone."

"Yes."

She nods, the picture locking securely into place. What she has to do is clear.

"Okay then," she says, with a calmness brought on not by confidence but by decisiveness. "You call me the second this is figured out."

He smiles tightly. "Even if it requires using a cellular phone."

He drops his hand onto hers, squeezing once. He hesitates a moment, eyes flitting up to hers, holding briefly before slipping out of the car and back into the antique shop.

She waits until he disappears deep inside before pulling her car around the block. She parks far enough away that she can see but won't be seen.

Henry is someone she cares very deeply about too. She isn't about to sit on the sidelines while he puts himself in danger. Whatever fire he's about to come under, she'll be there to protect him.

Whether he wants her to or not.


End file.
